Moving on..

"Trying to forget someone you love is like trying to remember someone you never knew."

Heart breaks are hard. Heart breaks break your heart, but that doesn't mean that you need to give up on love. Love yourself. Love your family. Love your friends who surround you the most. Love is always in your heart. It may not be towards anyone special, but it surrounds you with the people who care.

DON'T GIVE UP. Don't give up on yourself. You have to fight through some bad days to have the best days of your life. You will get through it though. Sometimes the best thing you can do is not think, not wonder, not imagine, not obsess, just breathe, and have faith that everything will work out for the best.

All I need in my life are my best friends to be by my side.

The week after finals

Finals are completely over with! I really only had 1 actual test and my other classes were presentations of projects that I have done. Overall, my GPA for this semester was a 3.6! Ahhhh, definitely very proud of myself. Also last weekend was graduation for Pitt State. Dave(my boyfriend) graduated Friday at 5:30, Carissa(step-sister) graduated Friday at 8, and Kasey(best friend) graduated Saturday at 11am. Congrats to you all! I had such a very busy weekend. Saturday after my last graduation to go to, my mom and I drove back to Olathe to attend Lindsay Bruner's graduation party. I had a great time because I got to see some of my best friends from high school.

For Mother's Day, my mom, brother, and I went to Ottawa to play golf. I am the worst golfer, but slowly getting better. It's fun to drive the golf cart! After we finished, we drove to Lawrence to have some lunch. We ate at Paisanos? Not sure how you spell it or remember what it was called, but it was DELICIOUS! I must go back there again. Since it was a Sunday, I had to head back to Pittsburg because I would start work at 8am. During the rest of the week, I basically worked, 9:00am-4:30pm, M-F. After work, I started moving items over to my new house where I would share it with Jordan Dickey, and my step sister, Carissa Hughes. The big day though is May 19th. Can't wait to start living in a new atmosphere with new people.

Moving Day!
My mom, Darrel, Dave, and his friend Matt came to help me move. All I had were the heavy items such as my bed, dresser, desk, couch, etc. They arrived around 10am an we got busy. Surprisingly we ended around 11. It only took an hour! We ordered pizza and had some cold beverages. They left to leave me with unpacking my room and setting it up.








Up Next: Memorial Weekend! Which I will be spending it with Dave and his family/friends.

Summary

Digital File Preparation I thought was going to be a hard class at first. I was almost scared of the teacher. When she started explaining about the blogs and the grade sheets, and the master image list, I thought I was going to go crazy this semester.  We started our first project, self notepad, and I learned a lot. I learned that you should illustrate in illustrator and fix photos in PhotoShop, then bring them all in InDesign. This was kind of a pain though. I also learned not to forget to fill out the copyright information!

Over the semester, this course had me designing what I wanted to design. That is what I really liked about the class, being able to express your own work. The class was a great experience for me.

What I didn't like about the course were the blogs twice a week. I would suggest a blog being due once a week, but just have more criteria for them. I feel like that's less grading for my teacher! We put in so much work with our projects that the blogs can be overwhelming. Another suggestion is maybe have blogs due at the end of the week or on a Sunday night by a certain time. I'm not saying I disliked the blogs because I actually got a lot out of them. I learned a lot of information having to look up answers and sourcing.

My favorite Project was the magazine ad and billboard. I'm glad that my teacher combined both of them. I liked this project because you really had to think how you were going to design the ad to where your target audience would not just skip past it when reading the magazine. For the billboard, I had to understand what people would look for when driving past a billboard ad.

Overall, I feel proud of the projects I designed. There may be a few items I would change on some though.

Adobe Tutorial

How to make a photo grayscale in PhotoShop

Step 1: Open photo in PhotoShop
Step 2: Go to image on options bar
Step 3: Click mode
Step 4: Click Grayscale, a box will appear, click discard.
Step 5: Your photo is now in black and white.

Before and after



Then after you convert your photo to grayscale, you can then change it into a duotone.
Here is a tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukautGwc1h4

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukautGwc1h4

Job Analysis 3

Husqvana is looking for a full-time, experienced, graphic designer. The candidate must be responsible for creating graphic material to communicate Husqvarna Construction Products’ brand and product to the market. This position is critical for developing and maintaining Husqvarna’s image to the public through graphic design. the candidate must have a bachelor's degree. The responsibilities the candidate must hold are 80% of graphics design, this includes creating marketing communication materials, design product labeling and packaging, and designing trade show presence. 10% project manager, this includes, managing design, production, distribution and storage of catalogs, brochures and flyers, and all graphic design projects. And 10% communication management. The career level is listed as experience, but not manager.

Source: Web. https://husqvarna.tms.hrdepartment.com/jobs/1638/Graphic-DesignerOlathe-KS?lcid=en-US. April 24, 2012.

Lawsuit Article

This is a review about a lawsuit pertaining to a brand.

A Lawsuit was filed by Florida residents brought against Publix, Target, Walgreens, and Aldi's for selling honey with false labeling. Each brand's honey is agaisnt the Florida policy, "honey standard of identity," which requires that no pollen be removed "except where unavoidable in the removal of foreign matter," such as bug parts, wax and debris. The lawsuits states that the companies filter their branded honey, so all pollen is removed unneccassarily.Residents want pollen, in honey, because it is healthy and the lawsuits also state that it is rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals, and can be traced geographically. 




 
           Walgreens Honey                        Target's Honey      
                  




Source:" Lawsuits Against Honey Retailers for Mislabeling." Web. http://www.lkllaw.com/cases/honey/

Adobe Tutorial

How to create a typing path!

Step 1: Open up Illustrator
Step 2: Click on shape tool and choose eclipse
Step 3: Draw the circle however you want
Step 4: Make sure there is no fill, but you can have a stroke if you would like
Step 5: Clink on the type tool and choose the type on path
Step 6: Place on circle where you would like text to be
Step 7: Start typing
Step 8: If text isn't big enough, change the font size

Before:                                                           After:

                             


Source: Watch this tutorial video if you need help.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QsJYlOks0w&feature=related

Job Analysis 2

The job that I am seeking is a graphic design position. Here is a job ad. The designer is will create/generate/craft/produce the design and production of company publications and special projects such as catalogs, look books, postcards, and Web / Marketing needs. The only education the job includes is the of a junior level designer. there is no specified years of experience. The ad does not give me a salary. Some skills include proficient in Adobe Creative Suite (Indesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Golive) and/or Quark, be familiar with pre-press & Digital prints, file prep and have cmyk/pms/spot color knowledge, Knowledge of Flash & DreamWeaver is a plus, and previous experience in Web, print & graphic design is required.



Source:Web.  http://www.coroflot.com/public/job_details.asp?job_id=39614&job_category_id_13=13

Job Analysis 1

The job I found is for The Creative Group in Philadelphia. The are looking for a highly talented graphic designer. they will team up to provide innovative designs. The Graphic Designer will help establish and follow guidelines to develop layouts for print, email campaigns, packaging, store and event signage, promotional items and other unique requests. The graphic designer will also work with all digital projects.
Candidates must have a BA or BFA in graphic design with 2-3 years professional experience. The candidate must have a thorough understanding of graphic design, page layout and typography as well as of Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. Photo editing experience is required. HTML and flash animation skills are a plus. The salary ranges from $37,801 - $46,201 /year.


Source: The Creative Group. Web. http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx?IPath=QHKCV0A&APath=2.21.0.0.0&job_did=J3G6P16RQ3BVVL4QL77.

Billboard Project

For my billboard, it will look almost like me magazine ad. It is a lot different with the dimensions, color mode, and resolution. The billboard is a 1400 X 14 pixels and all images must be in RGB mode with the whole billboard resolution at 72. Like my magazine, my target audience is towards 16 years old and up who love to wear heels. The billboard will consist of the slogan and an image of shoes with the website.

5 Thumbnails and 2 roughs:

Final:

The element I used from the master list was clipping path and a vector but with an image. All Images were taken by me. This cost me .65 cents. Added to the magazine ad it was a total of $1.30.




Source: All images taken by me. Did use a template for the billboard the teacher provided us off angel.

Final Project

My final project is going to have numerous folds and a die cut. I will be making it as a graduation announcement for my boyfriend. It will go out to anyone and everyone who is invited. I will include the date, time, place, and pictures. I am not sure on the cost yet. I was trying to decide on two different folds. My project will be a 14" x 5". There will be a die cut on the front, making it a flap. There will be two folds. The bleed will be at .125" with margins of .25". The paper is going to be like a card. When folded, it becomes a 5 X 7.  I plan on using colors like red and blue because I am designing this for a guy or I may just use Pitt State colors. . Below are thumbnails and roughs. The price it would cost to print 500 copies with front and back color, with a coated cover would be $164.45.

5 Thumbnails. They show the front cover and inside

 

2 roughs.

We made a folding dummy to see what our folds would look like and to help guide us. 

Here are a few pictures. The first picture is the card folded, the second is it unfolded.

     This is the front cover along with the back of the card.              

Here is the inside of the graduation announcement.

For the final piece, I used vector art (the graduation cap), a Dutone photo (front image), and 2 screen tints, red and yellow, which are the Pitt State colors. The images used on my project were taken by Dave Pfortmiller's mom. I drew the graduation cap. The paper I used was 80# uncoated cover. Front and back color, red and yellow. It has 2 folds and 1 diecut on the front.  

Adobe Tutorial: Photoshop

How to make a clipping path

Step 1: Open up your photo in PhotoShop
Step 2: In the layers panel, doub-click background and rename it
Step 3: In the tools panel, click on magnetic lasso tool
Step 4: click on your photo where you want to start
Step 5: drag the lasso tool around the area that you are saving
Step 6: hit commad+shift+I
Step 7: Hit delete, your background should go away
Step 8: Save your document as .eps
Step 9: Place it into PhotoShop or InDesign

 Before                                                            After



Here is a tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esTGTCMUF04&feature=related



Source: Web. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esTGTCMUF04&feature=related

National Logo Redesign

Pepsi is one of the most popular soft drinks. It was originally called "Brad's Drink," then later became Pepsi- Cola. One the transfoprmations done to Pepsi is their logo. The founder, Caleb Bradham, first drew the logo with a scribble script font. Whe people started enjoying his drink, he modifued it into a customized design and added the slogan, "The Original Pure Food Drink." In 1940, they embossed their bottles with the words "Pepsi Cola." and changed their colors to red, white, and blue (becuase of the war efforts of the cournty). Pepsi added a bottle cap into the logo design. After their 100 years of business, Pepsi came out with the latest logo that symbolized the brand’s innovation and global recognition.  

Today, they have changed the logo once more into a design that is simple and everyone knows what it is promoting. The new logo is a round circle with the colors red, white, and blue split into three ways. The implementaion of the Pepsi logo continues to satisfy customers thirsts. I like the new logo best because there is not a lot going on and logo should be clear and understandable. I believe that when a customer sees the Pepesi logo, they know exactly what the brand is.

Source: "Pepsi Logo." 2010. Web. http://www.logoblog.org/pepsi_logo.php 

Adobe Tutorial with Illustrator: How to make vector art

I am going to give you steps on how to make a vector  design in illustrator.

Step 1: open up illustrator
Step 2: click on the pen tool
Step 3: Start drawing!
Step 4: use the swatches panel to fill in for a color
Step 5: you can open up a picture and trace if you would like also
Step 6:s ave
Step 7: finished

Before

After




Watch this youtube video to understand more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98-6DdCPRoA


Source: "Adobe illustrator Tutorial." Web. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98-6DdCPRoA

Designs in the Evironment

Here are a few examples to show everyday design and that it is everywhere!

 Some of the designs I took were of billboards, on vehicles, on cups, on walls, and tennis balls. Most of them are very good designs.

Color: When using more than one color you should think about the color wheel. Not all colors can go well together. you have the primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. If using one color, you would need to use a monochromatic scheme. For more than one, there is complementary (2 colors opposite), analogous (all colors adjacent), triad relationship (3 colors make a triangle). Color is important because color is what draws the eye of the public.

Typography: Typograhy as well draws the eye of the public, but in a different perspective. Writing can either be too big, or too small sometimes. Typography is the arrangement of type and print. Designs usually have some sort of typography to help promote their brand or company. Some may not even have type, but the design can still tell a story.

Logo Design: A company's logo design is very sacred. It (logo design) let's the target audience know what the brand or company is. Logo designs are pretty much everywhere.

Target Audience: This defines the "who" for your design. Who will your design be for? The target audience can be anyone. Demographics, age, height, cultural, and so on. This category can be split into two different audiences or more.

Call to Action: Your call to action would be providing more information than just the item and logo. For instance, hours for a store, location, phone, website, coupon, etc. Little call to action can be ignored by the audience.

Production Process: From the examples I have above, they had different production processes. For a billboard advertisement, there are 3 components. Steel used to construct and support the frame, artwork that conveys the ad message, and electrical for the lights. The designers use component 3, artwork. Artwork is affixed to the steel frame covered with backing material known as facing. The artwork is either preprinted on paper of vinyl sheets that is attached to the facing. For other designs, some can be simply printed on cardboard, paper, etc.

Source: "Billboard." Web. http://www.madehow.com/Volume-5/Billboard.html

Magazine Ad

Synopsis

My target audience are those who read InStyle magazine as well as young women and up. My ad is a design for a shoe store that only sells heels. So if you can walk in them, you can wear them. I have listed my website as well as a microsoft tag generated to my blog. I wanted to make the ad simple, but yet enough to know what I am promoting.
The magazine I am choosing to promote my product is InStyle. I chose InStyle because I am promoting Sassy Pumps (same product as in the newspaper) and young women to older read it to get the latest trend in fashion. The specifications I will be using is for a page the dimensions are 8.375" x 10.875" with a bleed of 8.625" x 11.125." For safety there must be a gutter of .25"on each side, so a total of .5" and the safety margins for bleeds and spread, keep essential matter .375" from bottom and sides of bleed edges (.25" from trim). The minimum type font you can use is 8pt. The cost for one full page would be $106,500.

To submit a file, all files must be submitted via the Time Inc. Ad Portal. Information and instructions are available at http://direct2time.timeinc.com/. When saving an image, it must be saved as a SWOP, TIFF, or EPS format 300 dpi. No JPEG files. You must include standard trim, bleed, and center marks in all separations, 1/2" outside the trim. (No marks should be included in the "live" image area).

For Indeisgn, I will put the page dimensions (8.375" x 10.875") for the width and height. I will add a bleed of .125" because I took the bleed size minus the trim size and that equaled my bleed divided by 2 because I will bleed on two sides.

Here are my 5 thumbnails

 

 Here are 2 roughs

Here is my final project (which I completely changed): 

I used a duotone raster image, and vector art, and a full bleed image from my master element list. The full bleed image was taken off the server that my teacher provided. The microsoft tag was taken from tag.microsoft.com. Teh vector image was taken from the google web, http://www.thesassyminx.com/head-over-heels/the-sassy-photo-a-day-challenge-o-awesomeness/.  

Source: "InStyle Magazine." Web. http://www.instyle.com/instyle/static/advertising/mediakit/instyle/generalad.html. March 26, 2012.

Adobe Tutorial on Photoshop: How to make an image duotone

Duotone: One pantone color and black in one image

Here are a few steps to create this:

Step 1: Open your image in Photoshop
Step 2:Make a background copy if you want too
Step 3: Go up to image
Step 4: find mode and then grayscale
Step 5: you can flatten or not flatten (if you flatten, it will ask for you to delete layers, click yes)
Step 6: Go up to image
Step 7: Find mode, then duotone
Step 8: A pop up box will appear. Type should be duotone
Step 9: At least ONE ink should say black and another ink must be a pantone solid uncoated color
Step 10: You can change how much of the pantone color you want by clicking on the picture that looks like a graph next to the work ink
Step 11: Make sure your image is at resolution 300
Step 12: Go to image, then image size
Step 13: Type in 300 where it says resolution
Step 14: Crop to size of Indesign file
Step 15: Save Image as eps file

Here is my example of dutone!

Before image!

after image!

Here is the tutorial as a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wp36JRnYqM

Source:  "Adobe Photoshop tutorial" Web. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wp36JRnYqM. March 13, 2012

Newpaper Ad Project

These are my 5 thumbnails!

These are my 2 roughs!

Here is my final product.

Summary of the project

The purpose of this project is to understand how to create an ad for a newspaper. On my 2 roughs, I have listed the location, phone, website, and hours open. My target audience are women who love shoes starting with the age of 16 and up. For the project there will be no bleed. My dimensions will be a 6 x 4, but for InDesign the dimensions will be 11.63 x 4. It is different because of the formula you use. You take the number of columns width times any height you want. Take that number by $4 and that will be your total cost. The total cost for my project would be $96.

My Master Image List descriptions

A bitmap is also known as an image format to store digital images. On images when you zoom in close, you see bits of pixels, which defines what a bitmap is shown on images. Some examples are shown to the left. Bitmap images can contain a number of colors, but here are the four main categories. Multitones, grayscale, line art, and full color iamges. JPEG, GIf, TIFF, EPS, PDF, and BMP are file format examples.
Vector Art is an image with mathematical definitions. This means that the image you are using had been draw with lines to be created. This can happen in Illustrator.                                     
To the right is an example of a vector image. EPS and PDF's are file formats mainly used for vector graphics. Vector is art is used to design mainly logos because you can scale the image without losing any quality. Vector images and Bitmap images are related in way because if the vector image is used for the web, it must be saved as a Bitmap. When drawing a vector image, a reverse can be done. A reverse is the opposite of your original. For example, the color black reverses into white, orange reverses into purple, and so on. To reverse a color, simply use the invert adjustment layer. Below are some examples.


Grayscale raster is the easiest to wok with. They can be saved as Illustrator or a Photoshop file. Grayscale uses white, black and gray as their colors. Grayscale raster can also be named as halftones. An example is a QR code. A QR code must be designed in Photoshop before placed in InDesign with the colors of black and white.
Dutone raster images are performed in Photoshop. Duotone means two colors. In Photoshop, to have an image become duotone, you use black plus one pantone color. Below is an example.

 Silhouette raster is used when you want to print only the outline or just black and white of your image.It is used in Photoshop. To create outlines, use clipping path. Then you can open up in InDesign, which will show only the part of the image you wanted.
Below is an example of a silhouette raster.

    

Full bleed raster means the image you use should expand over the length of the page to hit the bleed. The bleed should be .125, so always make sure you are setting your image size to hit the bleed. It also does not have to be an image. It can bet a solid color rectangle.
Four color raster is an image in Photoshop with CMYK colors. CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black). Colored images you see today are full color raster images. A full color raster from Photoshop will be saved as EPS. A screen tint is a screen pattern that consists of dots that are all the same size and create an even tone. Screen tint is used for shading and tinting. 


Source:
" Bitmap versus vector grpahics." Web. http://www.prepressure.com/library/file-formats/bitmap-versus-vector. 2011. February 27, 2012.

"Printing Tips." Web. 2012 http://www.printingtips.com/email-term/t--2080/screen-tint.asp. February 28, 2012.